Relatively Famous (12 page)

“Bye, Dani.” Jason gave her one last quick kiss and then walked past the pool
toward
the path that would lead him to the side of Mark’s house and out of her life. She quickly grabbed her phone off of a small table and flipped it open, aiming at Jason.
This must be the reason they built cameras into cell phones,
she thought as she admired Jason’s backside.

Without warning, Jason turned around and caught her with the phone raised out in front of her. “Are you taking a picture of my ass?” He flashed her his sexy grin.

“No.” Dani held his look with her eyes. “Yes.”

Jason laughed. “You want me to hold still for a second?”

“Yes.” Dani aimed and snapped the perfect shot. Sam would flip out when Dani sent this to her. “Got it. You can go now.”

When Dani was sure he was out of hearing distance, she let out a yell and cannonballed into the pool. She swam the length of the pool underwater and emerged at the far end. She leaned her head against the edge of the pool, closed her eyes, and replayed her steamy interlude with Jason for the first of what she knew would be a thousand times. God, was he adorable! And the way he’d been kissing her neck had been so eager and sensuous. Dani wasn’t in the habit of making out with guys she barely knew, but she’d only had one shot with Jason, she reasoned, so she had to make the most of it. And she didn’t regret it one bit.

Her phone beeped
,
and Dani got out of the water to check it. There was one text message.

Nice cannonball.

Chapter 24

“Dani, don’t get your hopes up about
The Clone Faction
,” Mark said through his red
-
carpet smile. “And by the way, you look very pretty tonight.” He took Dani’s hand and waved at the crowd that was pushing against a metal gate that separated him from his fans. “Christopher, can you hurry things along?”

Mark’s personal assistant had been simultaneously shuttling Mark and Dani from one spot to another, texting contacts at lightning speed, and coordinating and confirming all of the post-show events through a headset. Multitasking was obviously Christopher’s strength
,
since he hadn’t broken a sweat yet, and he was just as tightly groomed and organized as ever. “Of course. If you would just give
Extra
a minute, then you can be done here.”

Dani felt utterly spoiled and glamorous this evening and didn’t mind playing to the photographers and interviewers. Mark had picked out the perfect dress for her—a long, silky navy dress with a short train—and the stylist had come to the house to do her hair and makeup and to redo the manicure and pedicure she’d just had done last night.

The noise and blinding camera flashes were daunting, but Dani just followed Mark’s lead as Christopher moved them from one interview to another. The constant calling of her father’s name was beginning to blend into one continuous chant for Mark to turn this way or that way so that each media representative could get a perfect shot.

“I’m sure the movie is going to be great. We’re going to have fun.” Dani tried to reassure Mark. Her father looked especially handsome in his designer black tux, but she could tell he was nervous. “Thanks for this dress. I’ve never worn anything like it.” Dani looked up at her father, watching the strobe flashes lighting his face.

“It suits you perfectly
,
and you make me look good. Oh, excellent, Renna is here. Dani, I want you to meet my agent. Renna Martin, this is my daughter, Danielle McKinley.”

Dani had met more people than she could remember and shaken so many hands that she’d lost count at this point. All the names and faces were jumbled together. She had been introduced to most of the cast, all the high-ups from the studio, and a few people from Rumble Liquors who were sponsoring the premiere and hocking Vitarum (which was a vile
-
sounding blend of rum and vitamins designed to prevent a hangover.) But Renna Martin was not someone Dani would forget. The woman’s enormous glasses covered most of her face
,
and her layered purple outfit hung so low off of her arms that Dani wondered if the woman might take flight at any moment.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Ms. Martin.” Dani held her hand out, but Renna bypassed the offer of a more formal greeting and threw her arms around Dani, swallowing her with her arms.

“Darling, I can’t tell you what a pleasure it is to finally meet you. I’ve been hearing about you all week. Your father cannot stop raving about what a gorgeous, intelligent, delightful young lady you are. Mark, you’d better keep an eye on her. With looks like that, a casting agent might snatch her up
,
and you’ll never see her again! Oh, it’s time to go in. This is your moment, Mark. It’s your night. Enjoy it all.
“
Renna put her arm around his waist and rubbed his back supportively, all to the delight of the photographers. She patted Mark’s cheek like a proud parent. “Let’s go
,
kids! Christopher! Where’s Christopher?”

Christopher appeared from behind Renna and extended his arm, showing Mark where to go. “I’ll see you afterwards,” he said and immediately began reprimanding some poor soul on the receiving end of the headset. Christopher’s tone of voice was perfectly warm and calm, but his words caused Dani to turn back and stare at him in horror. “I swear on my dead mother’s grave that I will ruin you and your entire family if you do not get this done.” Christopher paused and casually stared off into the crowd while the recipient of his threats presumably begged for his or her life. “Oh, good. I’m glad you can accommodate Mr. Ocean.” Christopher sounded pleased. “Thank you for your help.” He caught Dani’s eye and gave her a thumbs up as she continued following her father.

They were ushered to their seats by a pair of serious young men in tuxedos. Mark chatted for a few moments with several stylishly dressed people who all offered their congratulations. The lights began to dim
,
and Mark, sitting between Dani and Renna, took each of their hands in his. “Here we go. I don’t know what I’d do without my two favorite women by my side.” Dani caught him wink
ing at
Renna.

Dani had to admit she was excited to be here. She was at a celebrity-studded event with her famous father, wearing a sexy gown, and she was going to be a pillar of support for the surprisingly nervous Mark Ocean. The movie couldn’t possibly be that bad.

Two hours and twelve minutes of meandering plot and inane dialogue later, Dani knew she was wrong. Mark’s character had been cloned so many times that Dani knew even Sam would have been sick of the actor’s face. At one point, there were sixteen Marks, all occupying the screen.

Dreadful. The movie was undeniably dreadful.

Dani glanced at Mark. He’d barely moved throughout the film and was still frozen in his seat. What was she going to say to him? There had been some interesting computerized special effects…

A round of enthusiastic applause echoed through the room as the credits began to roll, and thunderous techno music filled the theater. Renna patted Mark firmly on the shoulder and then stood up, resuming her wild clapping. “Fantastic!” she called loudly to all those around her. She practically lifted Mark out of his seat and gave him what Dani saw was her customary publicity hug. Mark hugged her back stiffly.

He turned to Dani and whispered, “I’m so sorry you had to see that. What am I going to do, Dani?”

He was panicking, and even Dani knew there was no worse place to have a meltdown than at your own movie premiere. “It’s okay, Dad.” Dani faltered for a moment at calling him
Dad
. “It’s not the end of the world.” Dani was interrupted when a burly man clapped his hand onto Mark’s back.

“You’ve done it again, my friend!” The man’s deep, rough voice cut through the noise
,
and Dani remembered that he was one of the movie executives she’d met earlier. “Fantastic, Mark. The studio is flipping out. The box office is going to blow everyone away.”

Mark beamed. “Thank you so much. You’re too kind.”

Renna threw her purse over her shoulder. “Wasn’t he spectacular?” She turned to Mark. “Baby doll, I’ve got to take off. You go live it up at the after
-
party, okay? I’ll call you tomorrow
,
and we’ll chat. Agreed? And Dani, if I don’t see you again, enjoy the rest of your stay in California.
”
She air-kissed Mark and rushed off, her purple garment flowing dramatically behind her.

“Let’s get to the party. Sound good?” Mark asked Dani.

The after-party at a downtown club was being catered by Nancy Silverton from Mozza. Kayla, Chelsea, and Violet were meeting Dani there since Mark had insisted she invite some friends along.

As they entered the club, Mark mumbled to Dani. “Oh, no. That’s the producer, April Reznik, and the rest of these people are from the studio.”

A woman with a sequin gown, flanked by several other studio people, glided over to the pair. “There he is! Mark Ocean, sweetheart!” said April. “The man of the hour!”

“April, how are you?”

“Mark, it was fantastic.
You
were fantastic. We really did it, didn’t we?”

“We won the audience over, that’s for sure.” Mark said diplomatically.

Dani looked in awe at her father. He gave no indication whatsoever that he knew how awful the movie was.

“I agree completely with April.” A man with unruly eyebrows stepped closer to Mark. “You looked great, too. Better than you did ten years ago. Not ever
yone can handle those close-ups
. Am I right? Am I right?” he chortled. “You got the looks and the talent. What a gift we have here, people, huh? I told you, Mark, didn’t I? I knew you’d bring what we needed to the film.”

Person after person complimented Mark. He was surrounded by coddling, pampering liars
,
and the insecurity he’d shown earlier had vanished. He was celebrating now, the attention consuming him.

Dani wanted to pull her father from the crowd—protect him somehow—but it was painfully clear how much Mark craved this adoration, real or not. Mark had said in the
Celebrity City
interview that he wanted to show Dani his world. Well, she had seen it now!

Dani took a firm step back from the group that encircled her father.

Chapter 25

Mark stretched his legs out on the couch in his living room and set a few scripts onto his lap. “Hey, Dani. There you are
.
” Mark leaned his head back on the couch. “How you doing?”

“I’m good. What do you have there?” Dani flopped into an armchair. Mark noticed that she had on one of the cute sweater sets they’d picked out together.

“Oh, this is just work stuff,” he said, waving his hand dismissively. “Boring.”

“Well, what is it?” Dani picked up one of the copies. “Are you auditioning for something?”

“No, I’m just looking through old scripts, trying to remember what it was like when I actually worked with good material.” He smiled sheepishly. “I thought I’d run through some of my old parts and get myself into the right frame of mind.”

“The right frame of mind for what?”

“Kayla’s dad is producing a movie that I’m hoping to be in. It’s completely different than all the crap I’ve been doing for the past few years. The working title is
Truth or Fiction
. It sounds good.”

“So you have an audition set up?” Dani asked.

“No. I wish.” Mark let out a deep breath. “I’m just hoping Renna can convince Kayla’s dad to consider me. He already has some actors in mind for the lead, so I don’t know what my odds are. But I did used to be a
real
actor,” he joked.

“You are a real actor. You just haven’t had the opportunity to showcase your thespian gifts recently,” Dani said theatrically. “Here, I’ll help you.”

“Are you sure?” Mark asked. “It might be kind of boring for you.”

“No, I want to,” she insisted. “I’ll pick a good one.” Dani took the scripts and began flipping pages. “Um, maybe this one,” she said thoughtfully, setting one aside before picking up another. She was quiet for a few moments. “What’s this?” Dani asked as she continued skimming the middle of a spiral-bound script that was thinner than the others.

Mark craned his neck to see what she was reading.
How did that get in there?
“Oh, my God, no, Dani. Not that one. That’s not, um…” Mark flew off the couch and tried to grab the pages, but she was too quick for him and had already crossed the room. Mark stopped and dropped his hands to his side. Dammit. This was not something he wanted her looking at
.

“What is this?” Dani asked. She flipped a page, reading quickly.

“Dani, please don’t.”

She looked up at her father. “Did you write this?”